SUU Alumnus Hayden Wadsworth Continues to Leave a Mark With Innovative Drinkware Company
Published: February 11, 2025 | Author: Jacob Carr | Read Time: 2 minutes
Cedar City, UT - Southern Utah University alumnus Hayden Wadsworth is making waves as the co-founder and CEO of HydroJug, a company transforming the drinkware industry with innovative hydration solutions.
Wadsworth founded Hydrojug in 2016 with his brother, Jake, after watching a video of a fitness influencer talking about the lack of high-quality water jugs on the market. During the first couple years of the company’s establishment and growth, Wadsworth was simultaneously completing his Masters of Business Administration from SUU. He ultimately finished and was awarded his MBA in 2019, at which point he was able to go full-time with his company.
“I never wanted to manage a business from purely a financial perspective,” Wadsworth told Utah Business Magazine. “I wanted to have the finances in good order, but I also wanted a business that delivers awesome customer experiences and a fresh new look to the industry with innovative products that solve real problems.”
In the years since Hydrojug’s launch and Wadsworth receiving his MBA, Hydrojug has grown exponentially, even through the supply chain issues of the Covid-19 pandemic that marked the end of many growing businesses. In recent years they have begun to make the shift from a direct-to-customer model to retail, selling in stores ranging from Scheels Sporting Goods to Target.
Despite his company’s rapid growth, continuing success, and recognition by major outlets such as Forbes and Inc. Magazine, Wadsworth finds time to lend his help and guidance to his community. Recently he came to SUU to speak to students as part of the Larry H. and Gail Miller Center For Entrepreneurship’s Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.
Ultimately, Wadsworth encourages all up-and-coming entrepreneurs to embrace resilience and vulnerability, attributes he has continually worked on developing through starting his business, receiving his MBA, and beyond.
“As an entrepreneur, you’re constantly learning something new,” says Wadsworth. “You have to be so resilient. You also have to be vulnerable because you are going to mess up every single day. I think being really vulnerable, being okay with it and learning to love that process is super important to entrepreneurship.”
The Larry H. and Gail Miller Center For Entrepreneurship at SUU is hosted within the Dixie L. Leavitt School of Business and believes in teaching students how to run, start, and exit a business through experiential learning and mentorship. The Entrepreneurship Speaker Series is hosted every Tuesday from 11:30 to 12:20 in BUS 126. The speaker schedule can be found on their website.
Tags: Entrepreneurship Alumni School of Business T-Bird Stories MBA Community
Contact Information:
Brooke Heath
435-586-5400
brookeheath1@suu.edu